Police: Kmart lets go of counterfeit $100

Kmart officials told police they suspected a man and a woman tried to pass a counterfeit $100 bill at the store Thursday.

A couple is suspected of trying to buy an inexpensive item with the bill, but they were turned away when a cashier identified the fake bill, according to the report Kmart officials gave police, Craig police Lt. John Forgay said.

A Kmart employee contacted by telephone Friday refused to comment.

Forgay said the police department couldn't investigate the alleged incident because the bill was not recovered. Police also did not get a description of the two people or a description of their vehicle if they happened to drive from the store, Forgay said.

"(Employees) should do the best they can to hold onto the bill," he said, in the event that a bill is suspected to be counterfeit.

"We assume that it was counterfeit, but we can't verify it," he said.

Federal officials still are investigating a rash of counterfeit bills in various denominations passed in Craig earlier this year, Forgay said.

Forgay said officials still aren't sure whether the fake bills are being produced locally or are inadvertently being passed on a local level.